There was too much looking down and i think it was a little too fast. Not enough change of pace. She is probably the most tragic of all our first ladies. They never should have married. She later wrote as a memoir that i myself never made any decisions. I only decided what was important and when to present it to my husband. You stop and think about how much power that is, it is a lot of power. Part of the battle cahill against cancer is the fight the fear that accompanies the disease. She transformed the way we look at these bugaboos and made it possible for people to survive and flourish. I cannot know how many president s have that kind of impact on the way we live our lives to regret smocking around the white house grounds, i am reminded about all the people who lived there before and particularly, all of the women. First ladies, influence and image. Monday night at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cnn, cspan radio and scheming live at cpspan. Org. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] i am the president of the White House Historical association. Welcome to the new public home, the david m. Rubenstein center for white house history. In a recent arrangement with the National Trust preservation, which owns this Decatur House complex, the association is now co stewards of this Historic Site for 30 more for 30 or more years to come. First ladies, influence and image is a Partnership Project with our good friends at cspan. I would like to thank our colleagues there. If they would wave, i would like to acknowledge them. The cochief operating officer, Vice President of programming, and the executive producer for the first lady series. We appreciate their enthusiasm for a subject that rarely receives the attention it deserves. As you will see in your program, listed on cspans website, the series will be a comprehensive visual biography. Over the course of 35 shows in prime time on monday nights each first lady will get her 15 minutes of fame and many will actually get 90 minutes. Tonight is a special kick off for the series and we are so pleased that our guest here in washington and those at homes from coast to coast are joining us for this moment. We have expert panelists here to enlighten us. I will introduce them in just a moment. But first, we have a special message from First Lady Michelle Obama that we would like to share. Hello everyone. I am pleased to kick off this series d telling the lives of americas first ladies. In the coming weeks you will have the chance to learn about the stories, achievements, and legacy of these truly a remarkable women. As you watch i am sure you will begin to see why i am so honored and humbled to follow in their footsteps. Working on causes ranging from the trustee to womens rights to environmental stewardship, each of these would then left their own indelible stamp on the white house and on our nations history. Like them i found that this role offers an extraordinary opportunity to give back and make a real and lasting difference in peoples lives. For me that has meant help our kids lead healthier lives, working to get our military families the benefits and support they earn, opening the white house to as many people as possible, and encouraging all of our young people to achieve every one of their dreams. No matter what causes we take on as first ladies we have all shared the singular experience of meeting people from every corner of this country and seeing firsthand the character, courage, and spirit of our fellow citizens. That is the true blessing of being first lady. That is why i do my best to live up to the example of the women who came before me and the people that i need every day. Folks who work so hard and contribute so much to this great country we call home. Our panelists may come and join us. We are so grateful for mrs. Obama taking the time to wish us well and offer her reflections on the role of the first lady. They will be eliminated by those we have gathered here today. Illuminated by those we have gathered here today. Later we will bring you a first person point of view from within the walls of the white house itself. Our first panel will be moderated by steve scully. Mr. Scully is cspans Senior Executive producer and political editor. Since 1981 he has been responsible for coronary for coordinating all aspects of c spans programming, cspan. Org, and cspan radio. Elected by his peers from the White House Press corps, he is the former president of the White House Correspondents Association in 2006 and 2007. He currently serves as a waca board member. Joining steve on stage, we have edith mayo. Shes the curator at the National Museum of american history. Her books include the smithsonians book of first ladies. rosalyn terborgpenn is an author focusing on the american womens history. Her books include African American women and the struggle for the boat, 18501920. She is a University Professor and has founded the association of black women historians. Finally, we have william seale. He is a great friend of the association. He is editor of white house history, the Award Winning journal of White House Historical association. [laughter] he is also a ham. [laughter] you will indeed received a copy of the journal at the end of the program. He is also author of the president s house. It is my great pleasure to turn it over to steve scully. We want to thank Decatur House, our partners for the project. Our panel here, these of the people that have been the Guiding Force behind this project. Thank you for being here. I want to begin with you, why study these first ladies . Why these women important to understand and know . They are extremely interesting because they are the ones closest to the president. We all say if i could have only been there. Well, they are. They are wonderful observers and also make a difference. Edith you have studied the first ladies. From Martha Washington to the turn of the century into the 20th century, how did it change over that hundred 25 years . To begin with, nobody thought the first lady was going to do anything. I think that one of the things that is very interesting is that the white house, or the executive mansion in new york and philadelphia, provided a situation where you had the president s home and his work place both in the same place. Martha becomes a social partner and hostess for the nation to her husband. Abigail is a political partner to her husband. Having those two rules established, the women who follow can merge or change or advance one or both of these aspects. Dolley madison combined them. Then you have a position that is very visible both at home and to visiting diplomats. It has become more visible, more activist, and the technology has changed the coverage of the first ladys role. During this time period, which first lady made her mark . Who had the most influence . In the 19th century, i cannot pick one. Let me take two . Dolley madison, because she can set you she conceptualizes first lady. She is the fourth president s wife and only the first first lady. She is in the white house in the beginning and seems to enjoy all of the activity. I think she personified that. After she is long gone, they considered her first lady. I think she is significant. I also like mary todd lincoln. She has had a bad rap. The movie is fiction. Even though some of it depicted her. She was of very influential woman in terms of her husbands feelings about slavery. She comes with an abolitionist mind. She also worked in the Community Among the free blacks in particular, of raising money for the downtrodden in the city. And during the war she was a volunteer nurse. So what can i tell you . I think she really personified a lot of the things we think of today as the role of the first lady. Who enjoys the of first lady the most . If you want to use the word detested, who would you put on that list . Julia grant. Suddenly she had a pedestal to be on and she absolutely adored it. She loved it and try to persuade him to run for a third term. He didnt, she didnt like it. She tells how they got on the train to leave washington and she fell and wept and wept. She claimed her place in later life and would come back in great glory to the white house. I do not know if anyone hated it. Mrs. Franklin pierce came in under horrible circumstances, having lost two sons. One of the way to the white house. One in a train wreck on the way to the white house. She was a pretty good politician and she was as smart lady and was involved in political things that she just did not have the heart for it. At one point she fell in love with jefferson daviss two year old child. And then he died. That happened again to her. I would say she is a candidate for not liking it, jane per se. Jane per se. Jane pierce. Supposedly she fainted when she heard her husband was a nominee for the presidency. That would give you some idea about her feelings of being in politics. Then she had this horrible tragedy that she never recovered from. I already mentioned Dolly Madison. In the early part of it she enjoyed her role as first lady. I agree with that. She was voluptuous and laughing and painted up. And he was a mousy little man. He was quiet and a genius. She absolutely adored him. They were inseparable. A lot of it was taking up things he couldnt do. She was his pr person. If that position had existed at that time. She loved doing that. She loved presenting herself as queen dolley. The republican queen with a small r. I think she is thoroughly enjoyed her roles. We learned that Jackie Kennedy was the first one to have a press secretary . No, i think it was Edith Roosevelt that had the first one. That was for her specifically . The series is titled influence and image. Let me ask you about the influence these ladies had on their spouses. Who were among the most influential . Mrs. Tax mrs. Taft was very influential. I suppose mrs. Madison would be one. Another one was mrs. Hayes from ohio. She was not only be loved by the American People but she had a big influence on him. You talked about the image earlier. Which first lady was most concerned or consumed with her image . I do not think she was consumed with her image but she certainly image hurt us ands presidency imaged her husbands presidencey, and that was Dolley Madison. She conceptualize the white house as a stage on which her husband can conduct politics and diplomacy and which she can present herself as first lady. She decorated the white house. She was the first person to do so. Previous president s had brought their own furniture and so forth and she was the one who decided that this needed to have a professional touch. She hired an architect to come in and help her designed the furniture and reception rooms. She was very instrumental in imaging his presidency. Didnt she also cling to this in later years of poverty when her son ran for everything she had . And the issue of the dress, which may have been taken before the white house was burned, because it was packed for summer and mrs. Madison took these things with her. A journal seemed to be published in white house history. [laughter] she wore her red dress over and over again. There is thought that that dress was made out of those curtains. What was the name of the book . [laughter] look at the early 19th century into the civil war, the turnofthecentury, the industrial revolution, women getting the right to vote in 1920, the great depression, how did these women reflect the times in which they lived . I think Eleanor Roosevelt is a good example of that. She was into everything. She remained so even into the kennedy era. I was amazed to learn that she regretted that she had never gone to college. I have i was shocked she had never gone. She was home school and went academies. I suppose she had an equivalent of what we would consider a college education. On the cutting edge of every reform and one of the reasons was she did not have to stay at home. There was someone there to be the secretary and housekeeper for her husband. She was all over the place. I think she is a good example of the growing influence of the 1920s and womens growing liberation. The idea that women can get out into more that coincides with the womens suffrage era as well. I was going to say looking at the first lady, you can pretty much tell what is or is not happening with american women at any given point in the historical past. I think the present a particular window on the past. Everybody knows the position of first lady. Whether you know in particular first lady or not they become a wonderful hook on which to hang a lot of other historical events. I think they serve as a window on the past. If we have two microphones on each side so if you would like to come up to the microphone a brief introduction of who you are, where you are from, and a brief question. We will get to them momentarily. We would not be here today if it werent for Jackie Kennedy. This would be one of those government nondescript office buildings. Explain the story behind that and how she tried to redefine the role of first lady. The area was doomed to be High Rise Office buildings. You had commerce. This was to have a six story or seven story white model building designed by the people who did williamsburg. It was modeled for the time. The wellknown separatist the architecture was a friend of the kennedys and both of the kennedys were upset about the white house losing its residential scale and its neighborhood. Between mrs. Kennedy and the president himself, they stirred the Fine Arts Commission to resend to rescind permission to build this building. It happened right at the end of the kennedy administration. Mrs. Kennedy personally appear at the Fine Arts Building and stirred everybody up for it. That is what happened. That is why we have lafayette square. Jacqueline kennedy certainly was that was one of her causes, historic preservation. We see that through saving pennsylvania avenue as well as the white house. When she moved to new york she credited activities that save Grand Central station and a number of Historic Sites. That is one of her causes. And to think she was 32 when she came to washington and immediately set the white house to be a more appropriate setting. It looked like a sheraton hotel. [laughter] mrs. Kennedy wanted antiques and things and it. She was persuaded against that. Kennedy was very worried about that, creating a lot of trouble over furnishing. It proceeded with it and she got a crew she got a guru. It was a lollipop era. Jacki was determined to be behind the scenes. A lot of people to not realize that the influence she had upon jack one of them was the idea of improving withins role in society as a whole. She was the one that taught him into establishing a womans condition a womens commission. You talk about Dolley Madison, was there a 19th century counterpart that preserved the white house or make changes that has a Lasting Legacy . Goahead. The garfields no, it was the hayes first. They didnt know what to do with the white house, it was beat up and happy. They went to the library of congress and asked what would be more appropriate to have in a historic white house. He came up with this idea of a first ladys hall with portraits of all the first ladies. Hayes was very excited and he commissioned mr. Andrews, who became head of the corporate. He did another one the Library Commission paid 5,000 for that. And then he did another one of of dairy voluptuous Dolley Madison and the Library Commission said no. The garfields did the same thing. The roosevelts insisted on using various artifacts. They took the lincoln bed and draped it up. They fixed the place mrs. Herbert hoover was the first one who did a scarlet approach to it all. She had all of the objects in the attics and storage documented as to what they were when they came to the white house. That has all been a treasure to work with as far as a curator. The hoovers paid for their own entertainment. And they received many charitable things. They were immensely rich people. They have one of the women in the 19th century was very concerned about the size and the grandeur of the white house, mrs. Harrison. She and her husband came into the white house on the anniversary of the presidency. It had been 100 years since washington had been inaugurated. They had a very large family and they found that as the present the the presidency expanded, the rooms in the white house were being taken over gradually by people who were assistance to the president or who were executive assistants and some white. She thought there should be a west wing. She had an architect drop plans for an expanded white house with a west wing and an east wing and gardens and one of the wings was supposed to be an art gallery because she thought we should showcase of american art more than was possible to do in the white house here. This renovation would bring the white house into the modern era. But one of her husbands opponents in the congress would not pass the appropriation. There had been all of this planning and all of this work and she had very strenuously lobbied through teas and luncheons. What a legacy of that was it did not happen then but there was so much discussion of it that when the roosevelt came in they picked up on those plans and redefined them. And then you get the west wing and the renovation of the white house. Harrisons life never lived in the white house. James buchanan never married. When they never married, who fulfilled that role . They have hostesses the invited to come. Interestingly enough, Dolley Madison was the h